Cigarette case



Oct. 4, 1949.

A. B. HARRIS CIGARETTE-CASEY Filed Feb. 3, 1945 1NVENTOR.' 411 5x4 NDER 5. flMR/s BY ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 4, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT; OFFICE 2,483,460" CIGARETTE CASE Alexander B. Harris, Jackson Heights, N." Yli Application February 3, 1945, Se'rialNo. 575,987 1 Claim. (01. 20638) This invention relates to cigarette cases and is directed to certain improvements in this class of receptacles which broadly effects simplification of the construction, the assembly and-modeof operation thereof which results in a substantial economy in the cost of production.

The invention primarily comprehends a cigarette case capableof being and which is preferably fashioned from two sections of sheet material which are merely cut and bent to shape, thus avoiding the useof expensive dies for drawing the material, and the construction being such as to eliminate the use of separate latches and springs and the time and labor incident to their production and incorporation into the structure.

More particularly, the invention is directed to a case of the typewhich'holds'and houses a package of cigarettes wherein integral front and rear portions of a body sectionare'normally disposed in divergent relation'when the case? is open so as to facilitate the 'rem'ovalof the'cigarettes-from the housed package and wherein an angulated cover section, hinged to the body section, is employed for urging and for retaining the divergent body portions in closed relation.

As a further feature, the invention embodies a match book holding means formed on one of the body portions which is normally covered and protected by a portion of the cover section when the case is closed and which exposes the match book for use when the case is opened.

With the above recited and other novel and improved structural and functional features in view, the invention is disclosed in greater detail in the following specification, particularly pointed out in the appended claim and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of a cigarette case constructed in accordance with the present invention and illustrating the same in closed condition.

Fig. 2 is a similar view thereof illustrating the same in opened condition.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view therethrough, taken approximately on the line 33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view, taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings by characters of reference, the case includes a body section A and a cover section B, each of which sections, as shown, is preferably fashioned from a single piece of stock such as sheet metal or an equivalent material which possesses the desired degree of resiliency or springiness for the purposes hereinafter disclosed.

' shaped front and rear Thebody section A is provide a bottom' wall rected flanges l l' at the of and also includes a cut, bent and formed to I 0 having upwardly diopposite side edges therepair of'mating channelportions consisting of a front wall l2 and a rear wall 13, the said front wall l2 having at its opposite verticalside edges the rearwardly directed side flanges l4 and said rear wall I3 having at its opposite vertical side edges the forwardly directed side flanges IS. The side flanges" 14 and I5 -at each side of the body section A are disposed in the same plane and located so that the lower portions thereof lie within the upwardly directed flanges II of the bottom wall It). Thechannel-shaped front and rear wall portions, thus defined and integral with the bottom wall II], are normally disposed in an upwardly divergent relation as shown in Figs. 2 and 4, when the case is in opened condition whereby they are tensio'ned against relative inward movement toward each other to the parallel relation they assume whenth'e case is clos'edas shown in Figs. 1 and 3.

The cover section B is bent and formed to provide a top wall "5 and a right angularly disposed flap I1 depending from the forward edge of the top wall, the rear edge of said top wall 16 and the upper edge of the rear Wall I 3 being formed with mating aligned pintle rolls [8 and I9, through which a pintle 20 extends to hingedly connect the cover section B with the body section A. The foregoing construction and arrangement is such that when the cover section B is swung downwardly toward a closed relation with the body section A, the medial portion of the inner face of the flap ll engages with the upper edge of the front wall 12, as shown in broken lines in Fig. 4, so that upon continued downward movement of the cover section, the flap ll functions to urge the front wall l2 rearwardly until the same is substantially parallel with the rear wall I 3, thus finally disposing the free confronting edges of the side flanges l4 and I5 approximately in contact with each other, while the flap i 1 then overlies and bears against the front wall I 2, thereby retaining the case in closed condition to completely house and enclose a package of cigarettes arranged within the case.

The opposite edges of the top wall I 6 at the sides thereof are formed with depending side flanges 2! which, when the cover section is closed, lie on the outside of the upper end portions of the side flanges l4 and I5 of the body section A. The flap I1 is preferably formed with inturned marginal beads 22 at the end and side edges thereof which may serve as a frame for a mirror 23 arranged on the inner surface of the flap. The beads 22 not only strengthen and add to the rigidity of the flap II but the beads at the side edges also engage with the upper edge of the front wall 12 when the flap is functioning to urge the same rearwardly during the operation of closing the case, thereby protecting the face of the mirror against scratching by the edge of the front wall.

In order to provide means for supporting a packet of book matches by the case, the front wall 12 is formed with a notch 25 extending downwardly from its upper edge and an inwardly offset tongue 26 extends upwardly from a ledge 21 provided on the front wall at the lower end of said notch. The side edges of the notch 25 for the major upper portion of its length are defined by rearwardly or inwardly directed flanges 28, while the remaining side edge portions 29 of the front wall, lying between the ledge 21 and the flanges 28, defined together with the offset tongue 26 means between which the lower end of the match book is arranged, said match book being held against lateral movement by the side flanges 28 and resting at its lower end upon the ledge 21. Obviously, when the cover section B is swung to closed relation to the body section A, the flap l1 covers and protects the match book which is supported in the notched portion of the front wall [2 and when the cover section is swung to open position the match book is exposed for use.

What is claimed is:

In a cigarette case, a body section fashioned from a single sheet of resilient material and including a bottom wall having upwardly directed flanges at the opposite side edges thereof and a pair of mating front and rear body portions respectively consisting of front and rear walls normally extending in upwardly divergent relation from the front and rear edges of the bottom wall and each having at its opposite side edges side wall defining flanges disposed in the same plane '4 and located within the side flanges of the bottom wall, a cover section consisting of a top wall hingedly connected at its rear edge to the upper edge of the rear wall of the body section and an angularly disposed rigid flap depending from the front edge of said top wall engageable with the front wall of the body section for urging and retaining the mating front and rear body portions into closed parallel relation and for disposing the top wall of the cover section in closed covering relation to the upper end of the body section, said front wall having a, medially disposed notch opening through the upper edge thereof and rearwardly directed flanges at the upper portions of the side edges of the notch and rearwardly offset tongue extending upwardly from the lower end of the notch to provide means for supporting a match book in recessed relation to the front wall of the case.

ALEXANDER B. HARRIS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,478,510 Dusek Dec. 25, 1923 1,506,926 Gunter Sept. 2, 1924 1,690,308 Nivois Nov. 6, 1928 1,953,887 Medoff Apr. 3, 1934 2,155,613 Negbaur et a1 Apr. 25, 1939 2,368,803 Casnati Feb. 6, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 11,203 Germany Oct. 1, 1880 362,031 Great Britain Dec. 3, 1931 576,252 France May 9, 1924 685,958 France Apr. 7, 1930 755,484 France Sept. 11, 1933 

